Part of Milestones of the Last Quarter Century
While WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? takes the cake for the highest attended film of our last 26 years, PARASITE holds the honor of longest run — 20 weeks total, nearly 5 months. Bong Joon Ho’s Palme d’Or winning black comedy opened at the Belcourt on Oct 25, 2019 and played continuously until March 8, 2020, a few weeks after winning the Oscar for Best Picture. Hey, had it made it seven more days then it would have gotten shut down by COVID! This began a chain of entries in the Palme d’Or-to-Oscar-winner pipeline for its U.S. distributor Neon, a run cut short only just this past year. The film itself is firmly part of the canon. If you’re unfamiliar, read on…
Meet the Park Family, the picture of aspirational wealth. And the Kim Family, rich in street smarts but not much else. Be it chance or fate, these two houses are brought together, and the Kims sense a golden opportunity.
Masterminded by college-aged Ki-woo, the two Kim children expediently install themselves as tutor and art therapist to the Parks. Soon, a symbiotic relationship forms between the two families. The Kims provide “indispensable” luxury services while the Parks obliviously bankroll their entire household. When a parasitic interloper threatens the Kims’ newfound comfort, a savage underhanded battle for dominance breaks out, threatening the fragile ecosystem between the Kims and the Parks. By turns darkly hilarious and heart-wrenching, PARASITE showcases a modern master at the top of his game.
“A loopily brilliant drama that might be the most thrilling film of the year—as well as the funniest and the most trenchant. Few filmmakers can manage such a dizzying blend of tones, but for Bong, one of South Korea’s finest directors, it’s a trademark.” —David Sims, The Atlantic (Oct 10, 2019) “Bong has some ideas in PARASITE, but the movie’s greatness isn’t a matter of his apparent ethics or ethos — he’s on the side of decency — but of how he delivers truths, often perversely and without an iota of self-serving cant. (He likes to get under your skin, not wag his finger.)” —Manohla Dargis, NYT Critic’s Pick, New York Times (Feb 10, 2020) “You’ve never seen a movie quite like PARASITE.” —Brian Tallerico, rogerebert.com (Sep 7, 2019)
